DavidGreen
Posted by DavidGreen
Apr 18, 2023

Introduction

On Friday, April 14th, 2023 the veteran pass rushing defensive tackle, Gerald McCoy, announced his retirement from playing professional football in the National Football League after his 11 to 12 - year illustrious NFL career.

The NFL Journey of Gerald McCoy

McCoy spent 9 - spectacular years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 - year with the Carolina Panthers, 1- year with the Dallas Cowboys, and 1 - year with the Las Vegas Raiders, but the end of his playing years were plagued with injuries that mostly kept him off of the field.

The Announcement

McCoy took to social media to make his public announcement with a video that featured an image of Gerald hanging up his cleats with a simple, "Thank you," text message to go along with that video.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers posted back shortly following McCoy’s message by congratulating the 35 - year - old defensive lineman on his retirement, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office publicly referred to him as, "a Buccaneer great."

The number - 3 overall selection of the 2010 NFL Draft, Gerald spent 9 - spectacular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he earned NFL Pro Bowl honors throughout 6 - consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2017. McCoy spent a little time with the Carolina Panthers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Las Vegas Raiders as well.

McCoy joined the Carolina Panthers back in 2019, and he picked up 5 - more sacks in his lone season in Carolina playing for the Panthers.

He never ended up playing even a single game for the Dallas Cowboys following Gerald enduring a ruptured right quadricep injury prior to the 2020 - 2021 NFL season. McCoy managed to ink another short - term deal with the Las Vegas Raiders back in 2021, but he was limited to just 1 - game which ended up being his last game as he suffered another severe knee injury then.

NFL Career Statistics

Overall, throughout McCoy’s NFL career, he started in 139 of 140 games, and Gerald finished with his NFL career with a total of 59.5 - sacks, 5 - forced fumbles, 4 - recoveries, 24 - pass deflections, and 334 - tackles.

Football Background

The now six - foot four - inch three - hundred - pound defensive tackle previously attended the University of Oklahoma where he played for the Bob Stoop’s Sooners from 2006 to 2009. He was selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 3rd - overall pick.

McCoy played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first 9 - seasons of his NFL career. During the course of that time, he was selected to 6 - NFL Pro Bowls (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). He was named to the NFL’s First Team All Pro three - times (2012, 2013, 2014) as well as the Second Team All Pro in 2016.

Prior to the 2019 - 2020 NFL season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released McCoy in order to avoid having to pay the defensive tackle $13 million in 2019 and further payments in the future. As a free agent he decided to sign a one - year contract with the Carolina Panthers valued at $10.25 million.

He was hoping to finally make the NFL playoffs last year, but the Panthers lost their final 8 - consecutive games after beginning the season 5 and 3. The Carolina Panthers obviously did not qualify for postseason play after such a disappointing second half of their 2019 - 2020 NFL season.

McCoy signed a short - term deal with the Dallas Cowboys, but he never played a game for the Dallas Cowboys after McCoy suffered a ruptured right quadriceps prior to the 2020 - 2021 NFL season. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders back in 2021, but Gerald was limited to playing in only one game which was his last NFL game before enduring after another serious knee injury.

McCoy’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards

  • First - Team NFL All - Pro Selection (2013)
  • 2 - Time Second - Team NFL All - Pro Selection (2014, 2016)
  • 6 - Time NFL Pro Bowl Selection (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
  • Big - 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year Award Winner (2007)
  • 2 - Time First - Team All - American Selection (2008, 2009)
  • 2 - Time First - Team All - Big - 12 Selection (2008, 2009)

Sources:

“Gerald McCoy, six - time Pro Bowl selection with Bucs, retires”, espn.com, April 14, 2023.

“Gerald McCoy”, pro-football-reference.com, April 14, 2023.

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